


Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 23 Changing Gears

by specspectacle, Twilight-Owls (LadyTorix)



Series: Afterspark Podcast: Transformers G1 [24]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Embedded Video, Episode Commentary, Episode Review, Links, Podcast, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes, Swearing, Video, YouTube, transcript
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-18 16:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21280079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specspectacle/pseuds/specspectacle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTorix/pseuds/Twilight-Owls
Summary: Happy, helpful Gears!?!  THE HORROR.
Series: Afterspark Podcast: Transformers G1 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1220114
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 23 Changing Gears

**Author's Note:**

> If you need an audio only version of the podcast please check out the links at the end of the transcript!

[Stinger]

O: I just have this image in my head of him beating people to death with the Wailord.

[Intro Music]

O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast! An episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls.

S: And I'm Specs.

O: And today we're gonna be talking about episode number 23, Changing Gears. Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Sure.

O: In today's episode, we open on a mine where some miners have found GOLD.

S: A shit ton of it.

O: And one of them is tits out for gold.

S: There is more ab definition than I would expect here, really.

O: He's got Ratchets VA, uh, so does this mean Ratchet’s tits out for gold?

B: [snicker]

O: Speaking of which, I hope you're prepared for some Don Messick this episode because he voices Gears too. [laughs]

S: Immediately afterwards the Seekers and Soundwave arrive, shooting up everything.

O: Soundwave releases Laserbeak and Ravage who retrieve the miners and bring them back to Soundwave.

S: And by retrieve we mean that Laserbeak shoots through a shed/cabin, thingy and uh, nabs ones of them. While Ravage grabs the idiot who tried to fight him with a stick and then bodily drags him back to Soundwave. Soundwave and the cassettes play fetch.

O: It's good wholesome family fun for everyone who matters!

S: We see the third miner attempt to get to the radio unnoticed as Megatron shows up and demands that Starscream report in.

O: Starscream attempts to shoot the last miner but Megatron knocks him on his ass because Megatron needs him to call the Autobots. You know, a normal Tuesday for these two.

S: And now at the Ark, uh, complete with trees this time.

O: [chuckles] The Autobots scramble, and gather in the Teletraan I room before they roll out.

S: As all the Autobots are running along we see Gears, walking slowly and complaining.

O: Bee hops onto his shoulders and then backflips off of him to continue on his way, while basically telling Gears he's grumpy.

S: Seems legit. Arriving at the mine, the Autobots transform and attack the Decepticons.

O: Megatron and Optimus yell at each other some more as Megs transforms and shoots the cage the humans are in to free them as a distraction.

S: Okay Megs, sure.

O: [laughs] But then, he transforms back into robot mode, shoots some boulders on top of Optimus and company, then transforms back into gun mode and has Soundwave fire him at Gears, who was apparently their real target!

S: This is convoluted.

O: No, you think!?! [laughs] Anyway, Gears is now trapped in a hole and Starscream prepares to shoot him, before being knocked down by Megatron _ again. _

S: That's like twice in the past five minutes.

O: Literally! Megatron blabs about, “Final victory!” Before having Skywarp come over and fly off with Gears.

S: And I think this just looks really silly.

O: It looks very silly.

S: Optimus gets up and says, “They've got Gears!” Our small, angry grumpy man.

O: [deadpan] Oh no, not Gears. He's been in all of like, two episodes.

S: Apparently, we're supposed to care about him.

O: Are we though?

S: Elsewhere in a clearing some where we see the Cybertronian recreation of Stonehenge. And according to Megatron it's a Solar Needle.

O: We're gonna steal energy from the Sun now, finally.

S: The Decepticons _ finally _try solar energy but in literally the stupidest way possible.

O: [laughs] And Gears is gonna help them do it.

S: Gears just looks like he's in a robot playpen with electricity, this is...so silly.

O: The fact that he is significantly shorter than both Megatron and Starscream is not helping this impression in the slightest.

S: It really isn't. When Gears is uncooperative Megatron has Starscream freeze him with his Null Ray.

O: Apparently, out of all of the Autobots, Gears has some circuit that can complete the Solar Needle, that they need.

S: How? But okay, uh, Megatron removes it and suddenly Gears is the most agreeable Cybertronian ever.

O: Be afraid. [laughs]

S: Megatron proceeds to shove the circuit into the Solar Needle and begins gathering a fuck ton of energy from the Sun.

O: And, lo! Across the globe, all the major landmarks are subjected to earthquakes!

S: Megatron's plan to turn the Sun into a rad ass disco ball inspires the Earth to shake what his mama gave it.

O: [barely contained laughter] Of course! That’s- that’s how this works isn’t it!?!

S: Apparently. Um, the Ark is also being subjected to these earthquakes as well.

O: Or did Mount St. Hilary just become active for like the tenth damn time?

S: The excuse for all this nonsense is apparently… solar flares, because somehow solar flares somehow affect the interior of the Earth?

O: [trying not to laugh] I don’t think that’s how solar flares work!

S: Neither do I.

O: [laughs]

S: A bunch of boulders begin to fall on the Autobots.

O: From the earthquakes. Uh, Cliffjumper must be scooped up by Ironhide before he's crushed by one of said boulders.

S: And now all the foliage is gone! Where did the trees go? I wish there was some consistency because... what the hell?

O: Uh, in this show? Never! And after securing the base, Optimus reaches the you know, oh so difficult conclusion, that obviously Megatron's behind this.

S: He said he'd bet his torsion bars on this. What part of their anatomy is a torsion bar?

O: I'm not even gonna think about the answer for that question. Back at the Solar Needle! Megatron is monologuing, to no one!

S: And also Gears is being super helpful right now, for the Decepticons.

O: And jetting back to the Ark, the Autobots have reached a conclusion that the Sun will explode in slightly less than two Earth hours if they don't stop whatever it is that Megatron is doing.

S: The Autobots proceed to roll out and head towards Africa. Which is apparently where the Decepticons currently are.

O: Ah, the reused animation- I mean at the Solar Needle!

S: Which I feel we should specify, the Solar Needle- there's literally just a beam of light beaming into the Sun.

O: Yes, and this is going to cause it to explode.

S: [sighs] Somehow, yeah.

O: Anyway, at the Solar Needle!

S: Gears is helping the Seekers gather Energon.

O: Starscream observes that the Earth seems unstable, but Megatron tells them not to worry his pretty little head about it.

S: This is another one of those episodes that is constantly swapping back and forth between the Autobots and Decepticons with very little relevant information like, occurring in these things so…

O: Yeah. So back with the Autobots, uh, they drive past a herd of zebras before they reach a thick jungle. Said zebras I think, disappear before entirely exiting the frame too? [laughs]

S: That's very possible, I don't remember. Sunstreaker and Jazz hop onto the side of Prime's truck mode and proceed to use their blasters to disintegrate trees to make a road. Oh the ecological vandalism!

O: ~It's FUN!~ And back yet again with the Cons, Gears reflects that he should be mad at Megatron right now.

S: Starscream tries to shoot Gears, but the shot goes awry and is reflected back on him, Megatron and Gears, sending them flying.

O: This is like the third time this episode that Starscream tries to blast something that he should not blast.

S: Well this time he actually did shoot something. The other times he didn't.

O: Yes, it's like the third time he was going to shoot something. I know it's the first time he actually shot something, but basically it’s the third time Megatron's had to be like- Starscream, no. [laughs]

S: [sighs] Gears goes headfirst into poor Soundwave, knocking him over.

O: The Autobots continue to blast their way through a jungle making a leap over a large crevice.

S: Everyone makes it, but Bumblebee, who must be rescued by Wheeljack.

O: And it feels like a super awkward scene because there's zero dialogue, or screaming, or anything happening here. I'm also just not sure why this scene is happening at all? It doesn't really add anything to anything that's happening.

S: The Autobots reach the Solar Needle and attack, but their attacks reflect back on them.

O: Tired of all the talking, Cliffjumper does what he does best- jumping into action! And our little red dumb ass does manage to drop the energy shield protecting the Solar Needle.

S: Who would win? An energy shield or one small red bot, with a name that involves jumping off of stuff?

O: And Cliffjumper’s perfectly fine of course, so um, you know.

S: A fight proceeds to break out.

O: Some nonsense happens, such as Gears magically teleporting and Starscream picking Gears up and talking to him in Skywarp’s voice.

S: The scene changes and Gears is on the ground with Starscream aiming at him. Starscream sounds like himself at least again. Ah, but Bee runs into Starscream in car mode getting a strike, I mean um, sending him flying.

O: Bowling! [laughs] Soundwave sends out Laserbeak and Ravage to attack Bee, but Bee ends up tossing Ravage into Soundwave, knocking the poor guy down _ again. _

S: And onto Megatron and Optimus, it's DANCING time!

O: I think he means sexual tension time.

S: Of course that's what I mean. Dancing is a courtship ritual they're just very bad at deciding who's leading.

O: [laughs] Mm-hmm! Optimus tries to tell him that the Sun will explode but of course Megatron doesn't believe him.

S: Megatron has belief issues. Megs picks up Optimus and chucks him through the air.

O: Gears attempts to save Prime by shooting at one of the machines controlling the energy grid causing the energy to go wild and nearly hit Starscream and Ironhide.

S: Megatron transforms, and then Soundwave shoots Gears... using Megatron?

O: Yes. We're like three for three with Soundwave shooting Megatron today, by the way. [laughs]

S: Optimus attempts to reason with Megs about the whole you know the Sun is going to explode thing.

O: The dreaded return of astro-seconds happens.

S: [groans]

O: [laughs] Megatron calls Gears over, who cheerfully calls Megs, “You rotten a hunk of scrap!”

S: Megatron orders him to repair the Solar Needle and he's like, “Ok, I don't want to, but ok.”

O: Gears is honestly hilarious in this episode because he's like, “Happy to be of service!” Then he mutters, “I wish I wasn't, but I am.” [laughs]

S: Objectively this is actually a very horrifying thing that’s happened to Gears.

O: Oh absolutely, but I do love the dialogue. [laughs]

S: The Autobots object very loudly to Gears being nice.

O: Megatron has the Seekers take aim at Optimus, but Optimus asks for a last request.

S: And then Megatron tells him, “To be quick about it!”

O: Optimus asks Gears for a favor. Gears, then gleefully shoots the Solar Needle.

S: And then another fight breaks out, but did the other one actually end?

O: That's the good question, right? Some highlights!

S: Optimus decks Megatron.

O: Ratchet karate kicks Thundercracker into a tree.

S: I love that bit, personally.

O: Yeah! Wheeljack decks Skywarp.

S: And then Gears picks up Starscream, whirls him around and tosses him into Soundwave.

O: Oh my god, again!?! Poor Soundwave! He keeps getting knocked down through no fault of his own!

S: And then the Cons retreat and Optimus demands that Megatron turn off the Solar Needle.

O: Our idiots continue to fight until Optimus kicks Megs off the platform and then it’s- finally freakin’ flies off.

S: Optimus proceeds to get down to business of getting this damn thing turned off.

O: Ratchet has to save his husband- I mean Wheeljack, kicking a boulder into a falling column to knock it away from him.

S: They promptly disagree on how to turn the stupid solar array off.

O: Wheeljack was right apparently, as Optimus yanks one of the wires out and finally shuts down the Solar Needle.

S: Gears asks for his personality circuit back, much to the chagrin of the other Autobots.

O: They were just talking about, “Oh no! How could you make Gears like this!?!” and then promptly want to leave Gears like this. You hypocrites!

S: It's horrifying.

O: It is!

S: Before they leave, they blow up the remaining equipment and everyone drives off as Gears starts complaining and leaving- they leave him behind.

O: Yeah, they leave him behind as he's like, complaining. So that's the end of today's episode. So join us next time for, ‘The Prime Problem’. [Should be ‘A Prime Problem,’ my bad! ~Owls] Megatron decides to build himself an Optimus Prime, an evil Optimus Prime that is. All right, Specs, what is our fan fic for today?

S: The first fanfic for today is, “A Night Like This,” by Scott Kempe. It's in the G1 cartoon continuity, it's rated K, it's Gen. There are no pairings, and characters are: Daniel Witwicky, Spike Witwicky, Hound and Gears. And in summary, “It's a night under the stars. With Gears.”

O: I love that with that summary, it's still Gen. Like, it sounds like a romantic date with Gears. I have no idea if that’s supposed to be the implication, but that's how I'm interpreting it.

S: I've read it, but it was so long ago at this point since I read it and put it on the thing. I don't actually remember. But it's a one shot, and the character rec for this as literally, ‘Gears’... so, yeah. And our next one is also Gears-centric. It's, “All That it Seems,” by Lnzy1 or L-N-Z-Y-1. Its G1 cartoon continuity. I apparently didn't put a rating on it, but it's probably rated K uh, K+.

O: K+, okay.

S: It's Gen, no pairings and it's Gears. That's the character, the only character in here-

O: [snorts]

S: -I guess. Uh, in- in summary, “Generation One. One-shot. Gears sees something that compels him to... gasp! Be helpful! Damn his Autobot core programming and his compassion circuits to the pits!”

O: [laughs]

S: And yeah, it's Gears-centric, that's why I chose it, and it's also a one shot. So thank you, let's go to the art recs.

O: Our fanartist for today is Koroa, who does a variety, I think? Primarily I saw Prime and IDW. I love their stuff, I wish I had more electronics I could stick stickers of their stuff on, you have no idea. And today we have linked some lovely art of the Autobot and Decepticon badges and some motivational Minimus and Ultra Magnus posters, of which I actually own now and are up by my desk. [laughs] Um, I also may definitely own stickers of the Decepticon and Autobot logos that are on my computers. We will be posting links to their Tumblr, you can find other links on our Tumblr.

S: And on their Tumblr I would assume?

O: Yes.

S: And that just about wraps it up for us today remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter @AftersparkPod (all on word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as, AO3, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Youtube, just to name a few. Till next time, I'm Specs.

O: And I’m Owls!

S: Toodles. 

[Outro Music]

**Author's Note:**

> **Fanfic Recommendations:**
> 
>   * [A Night Like This](http://www.transformersfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=1644) by [Scott Kampa](http://www.transformersfanfic.com/viewuser.php?uid=33)
>   * [All That it Seems](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4330825/1/All-That-it-Seems) by [Lnzy1](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/481214/Lnzy1)
> 
> **Fanartist Recommendation: Koroa @koroa**
> 
>   * [Tumblr](http://koroa.tumblr.com/)
>   * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/koroaen?lang=en)
> 
> Favorite Art:
> 
>   * [You Are Being Deceived / Till All Are One](https://chocoformers.tumblr.com/post/148587591567/available-on-httpswwwetsycomshopilikealiens)
>   * [Do Your Best Work (Minimus)](https://koroa.tumblr.com/post/121994369589/little-green-man-for-my-little-green-room)
>   * [Get the Job Done (Ultra Magnus)](https://koroa.tumblr.com/post/121927241964/im-procrastinating-way-too-much-recently-so-i)
> 
> **Where to find us:**
> 
>   * [Anchor](https://anchor.fm/aftersparkpodcast)
>   * [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AftersparkPod)
>   * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Imo2wtgyxc6dc5ayfomcavnitaa)
>   * [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/afterspark-podcast/id1452120342)
>   * [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/Afterspark-Podcast)
>   * [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/afterspark-podcast?refid=stpr#_=_)
>   * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/@AftersparkPod)
>   * [Tumblr](https://afterspark-podcast.tumblr.com/)
>   * [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4cYaXdC4dtgl7a_paS6vg#_=_)
> 
> You can also find us on our personal Tumblrs [@twilight-owl](http://twilight-owl.tumblr.com/) and [@specspectacle](http://specspectacle.tumblr.com/)!


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